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Food festivals, markets and village fairs north of Rome and along the Via Cassia

Staying on the northern edge of Rome has a perk that rarely makes the guidebooks: heading up the Via Cassia you reach villages that still hold proper sagre, traditional food festivals run by the local Pro Loco, with a packed square, a brass band and giant pans of roasting chestnuts. From Lake Bracciano to the Tuscia hills, from Campagnano to Cerveteri, the calendar of food festivals near Rome runs all year round. This guide gathers the recurring events worth the drive, season by season, with practical tips for making the most of them.

One thing first: dates change every year. We give the usual month for each event, but always check the current programme on the Comune's or Pro Loco's official channels before setting off.

Why North Rome is the ideal starting point

Our B&B sits in La Storta, on the Via Cassia, right where the city ends and the countryside begins. To reach the festival villages you never have to cross Rome: you drive straight up the Cassia towards Lake Bracciano and Sutri, take the Cassia bis towards Campagnano and Nepi, or join the ring road (GRA) for Castelnuovo di Porto, Morlupo and Cerveteri. Your car waits in the B&B's free car park, and when you get back in the evening there is no city traffic to fight and no parking to hunt for. It is the same reason the area works so well for day trips from North Rome: everything below is an easy drive away, and there is plenty to see right around the B&B too.

Autumn: chestnuts, mushrooms, polenta and new wine

Autumn is the high season for village festivals in Lazio. In Manziana, a stone's throw from the lake, the Chestnut Festival (October) fills the old town with huge braziers, roasted chestnuts, music and crafts. In Bracciano, between late September and early October, the Mushroom Festival takes over the main square below the Odescalchi castle, followed by a mycology exhibition. In Sacrofano, just off the Cassia, mid October means pappardelle with wild boar ragù served in the old village's squares; a few weeks earlier, in September, the same town stages the Palio della Stella, a medieval re-enactment with a historical parade.

Along the Via Flaminia and Via Tiberina the calendar is just as full: Castelnuovo di Porto celebrates gnocchi in September and polenta in October in its historic centre, while Morlupo closes the month with its long-running Sausage Festival, one of the few in Lazio to carry the national Pro Loco "Sagra di qualità" mark. In November, in Anguillara Sabazia, the Castello quarter marks St Martin's Day with chestnuts and new wine in the lanes overlooking the lake. A little further north, Sutri opens the season with its Bean Festival between late August and early September: after a plate of the local "Regina" beans, visit the amphitheatre carved out of the tufa rock and the Mithraeum.

Winter: St Anthony's bonfires, Carnival and broccoli by the lake

In winter the festivals become smaller and more intimate. In January Morlupo celebrates St Anthony the Abbot with the blessing of the animals and traditional bonfires, while on 3 February Sacrofano honours its patron St Blaise. The season's showpiece, however, is the Historic Carnival of Ronciglione in February, up the Cassia beyond Sutri: allegorical floats, the Hussars' cavalcade and the handing of the town keys to King Carnival, in a tradition dating back to the 1500s. Finally, at the end of March, Anguillara waves goodbye to winter with Broccoletti in Piazza, a Sunday on the lakefront devoted to the town's signature vegetable, ideally paired with a walk up to the lake viewpoint.

Spring: artichokes, broad beans and village feasts

April brings Roman artichoke season, and the most famous artichoke festival in Lazio is held in Ladispoli, on the coast just past Cerveteri: since 1950 the Pro Loco has organised three days of stalls, parades and artichoke sculptures, with the Etruscan necropolis of Banditaccia only a few kilometres away. On 25 April Campagnano di Roma, on the Cassia bis, combines the St Mark's Fair with the Festa del Baccanale, as the town's districts cook their "scarciofata" artichoke dish and open the wine cellars in the evening. On 1 May head to Filacciano, a tiny village on the Via Tiberina near Fiano Romano, for the Broad Bean and Pecorino Festival at the foot of the baronial palace.

In mid May Trevignano Romano celebrates its patron St Bernardine with a market along the lakefront, fireworks over the water and a marinated fish festival. In June, Nepi goes back to the Renaissance with the Palio dei Borgia: weeks of costumed processions, archery and a knights' joust in the shadow of the Rocca fortress.

Summer: lake festivals and the grape harvest in Cerveteri

In summer the action moves to Lake Bracciano. Between June and July the Pro Loco of Anguillara holds its Fish Festival on the lakefront, with fried lake fish, shows and fireworks; on 15 August (Ferragosto), Trevignano carries the statue of the Virgin of the Assumption in a procession of boats across the water, one of the most atmospheric moments of the year on the lake. In the same week Morlupo celebrates its Ferragosto with patron saint festivities and food stalls in the square.

Summer ends in Cerveteri in late August with the Grape and Wine Festival of the Colli Ceriti: wine flows from the Mascherone fountain in Piazza Risorgimento, the town's districts compete in the square and allegorical floats parade on the Sunday. Pair the evening festival with a morning in the UNESCO-listed Etruscan necropolis, or a swim at Ladispoli beach.

Markets in North Rome and by the lake

If you prefer markets in North Rome to food festivals, the area delivers. The Ponte Milvio antiques market is held on Sundays on the square by the ancient bridge (except in August), with around a hundred dealers of furniture, prints and period pieces, easy to reach on the FL3 train from La Storta. In the Flaminio district, a short walk from Piazza del Popolo, Borghetto Flaminio is the weekend address for quality vintage clothing, in a covered space that runs rain or shine. On the lake, Trevignano's Mercatino del Lago fills Piazzale del Molo on the first and third Sunday of the month, and almost every village has its own weekly market: ask locally which day it falls on.

Practical tips for enjoying a sagra

• Check the dates: they change every year and can be moved because of bad weather. The Comune's and Pro Loco's channels, often a Facebook page, are the ones to trust.
• Bring cash: many stalls are run by volunteers who do not take cards, and the system of buying food tokens at a central till is still common.
• Arrive early: the villages have pedestrian historic centres and limited parking; in Calcata and Sutri, for instance, you leave the car outside the walls and walk up.
• Evening hours: festivals come alive from late afternoon onwards; in summer dinner in the square rarely starts before 8 pm.
• With children: village fairs are very family friendly (games, bands, parades), but pack a sweater even in summer: lake and hill-town evenings turn cool.
• Comfortable shoes: cobblestones, slopes and stairways are the norm in the old centres.
• Add a visit: Lake Bracciano, the necropolis of Cerveteri, the amphitheatre of Sutri, the gorges of Calcata. Every festival is a good excuse to discover a village.

Why stay at B&B Beni Benius Roma

You only really enjoy a sagra if you do not have a long drive back to bed. B&B Beni Benius Roma is on Via Cherasco in La Storta, with free private parking, a garden where breakfast is served and quiet rooms with WiFi and air conditioning. From here Lake Bracciano, Campagnano, Sacrofano and Formello are an easy drive without crossing the city, while central Rome remains an easy train ride from La Storta station (FL3 line). Have a look at our available rooms, from the double to the Love Room for four and the whole apartment for groups and families, and ask us which festival is on during your stay: we are happy to help you plan the day.